"To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, Chapters 1-7

Will you:

Read and annotate the first seven chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Listen to and read the words at the same time. Pause frequently to annotate the text. You can also record your reading of these chapters on VoiceThread. Then write your response to the first seven chapters, using one or two of the six questions in this mission. Next, get engaged in a conversation about this part of To Kill a Mockingbird by commenting on another student's discussion post about Chapters 1-7. Also, be sure to reply to anybody's comment on your own discussion post. In between all of that, play the Quizlet games to review your comprehension of the text. Finally, do more research on The Great Depression, and add your findings to another comment or reply on another discussion post about Chapters 1-7.

Step One of Six: Read, Listen to, and Annotate the first seven chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird

Scroll inside the red, double-line frame just below this introduction (Mrs. Drum's 8th Grade English), and click on the play buttons to listen to the audio of the first seven chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird narrated by Sissy Spacek. They are organized by chapter, and there are several audio files within the chapter. Pause and annotate using the NowComment version of To Kill a Mockingbird in the next, blue frame.

How to annotate on the text embedded below (while listening and pausing):

Log into NowComment, or Log into Gmail first, then sign in with Google.

Make notes on sentences

identify key sentences and say why they are important

guess at, then find definitions for words you don't know

point to words that this author uses frequently, and explain why s/he does this

Make notes on a paragraph

a part that you think is particularly memorable, and explain why

dialogue that shows something significant about the characters

something that confuses you. Say what you do understand, then explain what's still not clear.

Make notes on the writer's craft

choose a specific example, and identify the literary technique used.

select a sentence or a paragraph, and explain how these capture the main themes of this text.

point out a sentence that stands out to you—for whatever reason—and explain why.

Step Two of Six: Play games with these flashcards, and write stories in your journal about reading To Kill a Mockingbird

Let's read an important section of To Kill a Mockingbird - Chapters 1-7 aloud. Record yourself reading pages in this green-framed VoiceThread. (You will need to log in. You can register if you don't have an account, or ask your teacher.) You should practice first. Also listen to the other recordings on each page.

Use a Google Doc to compose, share and get comments from peers, revise, proofread, and edit an essay that follows one of the suggested guides. Then post your literary essay as a discussion on Youth Voices.

1. What do Scout, Jem, and Dill know about Boo Radley? What parts of their understanding of Boo are based on facts and reliable information? What parts are based on gossip and legend? How can the reader tell the difference between the facts about the Radley family and the legends? Use either Character Analysis Introduction or Character Archetypes to describe the character of Boo Radley and his place in this community. Be sure to also include Scout's, Jem's and Dill's feelings about Boo.

4. What is “the other”? Who are “the others” in Maycomb? What roles do race, class, and gender play in establishing who is the other? What role
does gossip and superstition play? What about stereotypes? What about fear? Use either "Tracking the Themes / Seguimiento de los Temas or Questioning and Speculating to begin talking about these themes of race, class and gender in To Kill a Mockingbird.

5. What events and experiences begin to change Jem’s feelings about Boo Radley in these chapters? What does this suggest about how we can
better understand people different from us? Use either Character Analysis Introduction or Character Archetypes to describe the character of Boo Ridley and his relationship with Jem. Be sure to also include your thoughts about understanding people who are different.

6. How does race complicate the circumstances of the characters we have met so far? What role does Calpurnia play in the Finch family? What
authority does she have in the Finch household that she might not have elsewhere in Maycomb? Use either Character Analysis Introduction or Character Archetypes to describe the character of Calpurnia and her role in the Finch family. Be sure to also compare her role in this family with how she is treated in Maycomb.

Step Six of Six: Do some research about The Great Depression, annotating the resources in the purple frame below with Hypothes.is. Then post new comments and replies on discussions about "To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 1-7."

While reading and looking at the documents from each of these resources collected by Facing History and Ourselves, "Building Historical Context," pause frequently and annotate with Hypothes.is about what you are seeing and understanding. Write about your annotations, using either Adding a quotation... or Quoting a speech.... Use these notes to add new comments on other students' "To Kill a Mockingbird - Chapters 1-7" discussion posts (literary essays) using the Commenting Guide: Quoting a Source in a Comment.

To Kill a Mockingbird Soundtrack
Beds Are Burning- Midnight Oil
This song would go with the scene where Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson. The song refers to the feeling of having terrible things...

The most important theme in To Kill A Mockingbird is racism. During the Depression era, blacks were still highly subjugated members of society. Blacks were not permitted to join the whites in public...